Wednesday...

This morning I had a wonderful surprise. As I was preparing breakfast, Monte looked up and said, "Here's Blanca." I hurried to the door and sure enough, my sweet Blanca was standing in the schoolyard outside her brother's classroom. I called her name and when she looked up she had a look of disbelief on her face. She just stood still for a few seconds before she decided it was really me and came over to see me. To get to hug her again was wonderful. The last word I'd had on her was that she was not able to walk very well and might never be able to walk. I'd planned to call her this afternoon and arrange to get a ride to go visit her. She had surgery a few weeks ago to put some kind of rod or pin in her back and has to wear a very stiff brace for 6 months. Walking is painful sometimes but the doctor told her to keep doing it because it's good exercise. I invited her in to share breakfast with us (I don't think she enjoyed the oatmeal with leftover fried apples in it as much as we did, though) and she spent the rest of the morning with us. She needs a lot of encouragement as she still has a long road ahead of her but she was thrilled to see us and get to visit with us. She hopes to come back tomorrow and bring Emily with her.

I wanted to give some of you who have asked about the conditions here a view of the kitchen. Here's a view of the sink and the countertop in the kitchen:

and then to the right of that is a hallway and then the stove (complete with big yellow propane tank) and the refrigerator. To the left of the sink is a spare toilet (behind the red metal door) and the spare shower-turned-pantry I mentioned yesterday.

I think I've finally found a place for most everything in the kitchen and have gotten it organized so that we can use it. One of the best parts of the kitchen, though, is the view out the window. I'll post some pics tomorrow of the beautiful view of the mountains that I get to look at while working at the sink.

This afternoon Isabel came and showed me how to cook beans the way they do here. They've just finished cooking on the stove. (They're cooking in the pot in the picture above) Now I will put them in the refrigerator and tomorrow morning I add a little water and (here's where I'm glad I made room in my suitcase for my little food processor) I run them through the food processor/blender till they are smooth. Then she told me how to cook them in a skillet to make the flavor the best but I think I'm supposed to keep that part secret. ;-)

Monte had a meeting yesterday with Jose to discuss plans for the church here and then today was able to meet with both Jose and Jorge to discuss some more. Ruth and Nathan have been working to make their room personalized to them and organizing their things. We have now been in the country a week and are feeling more at home every day. By next week we should be into a fairly normal routine and the kids will be doing schoolwork.

By the way, I think we're getting the hang of the laundry-drying situation. *yippee* All of the clothes that have been washed are now dry, thanks to learning to time when to put them outside. It feels so good to not have damp clothes! :) We're heading out soon to a surprise party for Norma's birthday. It's been a great day and looks to be a great night.

Love, Lori